Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards on Sunday sailed through to the next round of their respective continental assignments in contrasting fashion.

Leopards emphatically beat Ethiopian club Defence 4-1 on aggregate following their 2-1 win in the return leg of their CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round at the Ato Emmanuel Stadium in Addis Ababa.

Kenya international Allan Wanga, who missed the first leg with injury, loudly announced his return by notching both goals in the second half to reply to, with interest, Micheal Desseta first half goal for the hosts.

In Gabon, brave Gor, against huge odds, beat US Bitam 4-2 on post-match penalties to qualify for the first round of the Champions League after the home team had won 1-0 to tie the round 1-1 in regulation time.

But Jerim Onyango was the hero of battling K’Ogalo, saving four penalties, two in the decisive post-match spot-kicks and two in regulation time. The host team had taken the lead in the second half through Henry Joel Eyame but just couldn’t find a way past custodian Onyango for the important second goal.

Gor defender David Owino was sent-off for questioning the match referee’s decisions in the 85th minute, but the Kenyan champions gamely battled on to force the game into penalties.

Gor Mahia team manager Frank Ouma was also given a red card during the match for arguing with the fourth official.

16-HOUR FLIGHT

“I feel great. Very, very great. This is the best ever football match I’ve ever watched. These boys have done the country proud,” Gor chairman Ambrose Rachier told Daily Nation Sport on phone from Bitam.

Gor had endured a tiring 16-hour flight that saw them connect through three cities, Kigali, Kinshasa and Libreville, before arriving in Bitam, a town located on the Gabon-Cameroon border.

In Addis Ababa, Leopards coach James Nandwa adopted a slightly defensive formation for this contest, drafting in Musa Mudde to anchor the midfield alongside Martin Imbalambala, with Augustine Etemesi also squeezing into a five-man centre pack, that also had Peter Opiyo and Jacob Keli. Wanga remained the lone striker upfront.

This tactic denied the hosts the much needed space but after relentless pressure they managed to go ahead seven minutes to the break through an expertly taken free kick from Desseta that gave Leopard’s custodian Wycliffe Kasaya no chance.

Wanga then took over by turning the game round with strikes in the 46th and 89th minutes to silence the partisan home crowd and send the handful of travelling Leopards supporters into celebration.

Richard Ekhalie: “We knew we are going to advance after the first leg result. I must thank the technical bench who recruited very well, you can see we won without Wanga in the first leg and Were for the return match. We are now gunning for this tie against SuperSport United.” Leopards will face SuperSport on February 28.

The ‘Matsatsantsa’, as the South African club are fondly referred to down south, booked the Leopards’ date by securing a 1-0 score away to Botswana club Gaborone United, in their second leg clash played at the National Stadium in the country’s capital, Gaborone, and a 3-0 aggregate score.

In the rest of Africa, Nigerian side Kano Pillars made an unexpectedly early exit from the Caf Champions League this weekend despite a 2-1 win over Democratic Republic of Congo visitors Vita.

The Kinshasa club, who won the competition 41 years ago, advanced 4-3 on aggregate.

Gor Mahia won the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Cup by beating Sofapaka 3-0 on post-match penalties last night to end the season with two titles.

Ivan Anguyo, Moses Odhiambo and Rama Salim netted the penalties as Top 8 Cup holders K’Ogalo booked a ticket to the Africa Confederation Cup to be played next season.

It was a successful defence of the title against the same team they beat last season and the Gor fans, who openly cried when they failed to win the league title over a week ago, were celebrating this time.

But the game was a tense affair.

Coach Zdravko Logarusic was elated. ‘’It is a day of joy. I can only wait and talk much tomorrow. I’m over the moon.”
Gor started with a blistering run in the second minute, Rama Salim, Kevin Omondi and Moses Odhiambo inter-passing.

They came close only for Duncan Ochieng to parry the resultant effort for a fruitless corner.

But Sofapaka soon settled and nearly went ahead in the seventh minute, John Baraza cooly turning with the ball in the danger zone but his shot went wide.

Both sides held on for the infamous spot kicks.

Eugene Asike’s shot was blocked by Mapunda, Ivan Anguyo then netted, Sofapaka missed their second while Odhiambo hit home for Gor Mahia.

Mieno stepped in for Sofapaka’s third which he hit over the bar. Rama Salim scored the winner for Gor and the celebrations began.

The South African National Team, Bafana Bafana (ranked 19th out of 54 in Africa) arrive in Kenya on Saturday, two days before they take face the local national team Harambee Stars (ranked 37th out of 54 in Africa) in an mouth-watering international friendly build-up match at the Nyayo National Stadium on Tuesday 16th October from 7pm.

We are ON guys. PM Raila Odinga expected at Nyayo Stadium when the Stars take on Bafana.

A win for Harambee Stars may see an improvement on Kenya’s position in FIFA rankings, and also increase the chances of the likes of brothers Wanyama and an absent Mariga playing in the highly rated English Premier League.

Dan Sserunkuma scored a brace as Gor Mahia edged out arch rivals AFC Leopards 2-1 to go top of the Tusker Premier League with 46 points on Saturday.

Sserenkuma struck first the 13th minute after tapping in a rebound from Kevin Omondi’s shot. From a harmless short corner, Sserunkuma’s rasping shot in the 36th minute, a strong contender for the goal of the season, went past AFC goalkeeper Patrick Matasi to put Gor 2-0 up at the break.

Leopards pulled a goal back through Mike Barasa in the second-half but could not find an equaliser as Gor continued their amazing recovery after an abysmal start to the season. Gor are now unbeaten in 14 league matches.

Gor lead standings

Following the win, Gor lead the standings with 46 points, one ahead of defending champions Tusker who have a game in hand. Leopards drop down to third with 45 after suffering their third defeat in four matches.

Going into the match, Gor were favourites and settled into match quickly, dominating the first half.

Leopards made a double substitution at the break, bringing on Paul Were and Abass Kiwalabye and the move paid off as a neat Allan Wanga flick put Mike Barasa through on goal and he coolly scored at the near post.

The home side were energised by the goal pinning Gor back in their own half with skipper Martin Imbalambala going close on 73 minutes.

But Gor held on for victory with the final whistle sparking off a massive party as the Green Army celebrated a win over their arch nemesis.

The match has been billed as top of the table clash and is set to not only shape up the standings but bragging rights will be up for grabs. Kogalo versus Ingwe coming up this saturday 22 Sept 2012 at Kasarani.

Gor has shown a lot of determination. They are now confirming their status as an international brand. They’ve also been good sportsmen. This league is for them to lose. Am a sofapaka fan, but on this one, kudos to kogallo nyam nyam